Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

For over a century, coal fueled much of the country and served as the economic backbone for many rural communities. But with the rise of more affordable wind and solar energy, coal is in decline, leaving these towns increasingly vulnerable. As jobs disappear, coal-dependent communities are faced with the threat of economic collapse and depopulation. To adapt, many are working to diversify their economies, seeking new industries and opportunities for the future. Today, we’ll visit coal communities across the country, where locals and leaders are actively exploring ways to rebuild and ensure no one is left behind in the energy transition. This episode also features field reporting from Climate One and Caitlin Tan of Wyoming Public Media on the transition from coal to nuclear power in Kemmerer, Wyoming.Guests:Chris Levesque, CEO, TerraPowerBrian Muir, Kemmerer City AdministratorTony Skrelunas, Executive Director of the Division of Economic Development, Navajo NationMike Eisenfeld, Energy and Climate Program Manager, San Juan Citizens AllianceSupport Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today for just $5/month.For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Humanities West and the Italian Cultural Institute celebrate the life and art of Giacomo Puccini (December 22, 1858 to November 29, 1924) on the 100th anniversary of his death. His operas La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot are among the most beloved and most often-recorded operas of all time. His arias are famous for both their emotional resonance and their melodic beauty—even among millions who have never listened to a complete opera. Puccini was born into a centuries-old family of Italian composers, and he began his successful career just as Verdi was completing his, quickly inheriting Verdi’s renown as the greatest living composer of Italian opera. We have brought the internationally praised scholar and musicologist Gabriele Dotto from Italy to share the stage with San Francisco Opera’s favorite Kip Cranna to tell some of the stories behind the composition of Puccini’s heavenly arias.Giacomo Puccini and the Impact of Early 20th Century MediaGabriele Dotto will trace the rapid rise of sound recordings and film as competitors for opera theaters and the traditional business of music publishers. Puccini and his publisher, Casa Ricordi, demonstrated an extraordinary combination of artistic creation and commercial activity, using new and efficient strategies to market Casa Ricordi’s opera repertoire to a globally expanding audience and “branding” Puccini as the publishing house’s most iconic composer.Puccini Before Fame: The Composer in His YouthClifford (Kip) Cranna will discuss Puccini’s boyhood experiences, his musical training and his operatic influences. Cranna will demonstrate that some of the music Puccini wrote as a student was eventually recycled in his later operas. He will also concentrate on Puccini’s first two operas, the rarely performed Le Villi and Edgar, which were composed before his first big hit Manon Lescaut—the beginning of his enduring fame and operatic stardom.OrganizerGeorge Hammond A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.In association with Humanities West and the Italian Cultural Institute Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nathan Law was a leader of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution when he was still only 21 years old. By the age of 23, he was the youngest lawmaker ever elected in the history of Hong Kong. By the age of 26, he was “Most Wanted” under the government’s National Security Law.Join us for a screening of Who’s Afraid of Nathan Law? followed by a Q&A with Nathan Law (participating remotely) and director Joe Piscatella, and learn more about the courage, resilience and youthful idealism of Nathan Law, a young man who mortgages his own future to try to save his home.As a college freshman, shy Nathan Law discovers an identity in activism. As one of the organizers of a student strike demanding that Hong Kong be allowed to elect its own leader (something promised to them back in 1998), Law leads five days of student boycotts with a message of peaceful civil disobedience. When the strike suddenly becomes the Umbrella Revolution, Law is unexpectedly thrust into a leadership role that shuts down Hong Kong for 79 days and captures the attention of the world.When the movement falters, the government charges Law for his role in the Umbrella Revolution, but his entire generation in Hong Kong has been awoken. Riding the enthusiasm of the student movement he helped spark, Law makes the impossible transition from protest leader to elected official, becoming the youngest lawmaker in Hong Kong’s history, where he continues his fight for democracy from inside the government. Fearful of his message gaining traction beyond students, the government disqualifies Law on a technicality and sends him to jail.As Hong Kong continues to see the erosion of its freedom, a new movement is launched. Whereas the Umbrella Revolution was driven by hope, this new movement is driven by desperation. Nathan’s message of civil disobedience is overshadowed by a new generation of protestors who no longer feel that peaceful demonstrations can save Hong Kong, As Hong Kong descends into the biggest political crisis in modern Chinese history, Nathan must decide his role and his future.Find out how it happened and what could happen next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meet this amazing group of people who help bring food to your and your neighbor’s tables. This interactive program will include delicious samples from Sway and Curtis Aikens plus a panel discussion. It will be a fun, informative event that might change how you view our Bay Area food system. Andy Naja-Riese, CEO of the Agricultural Institute of Marin County, will discuss how we can strengthen our local food system in a changing climate. Chef Curtis Aikens, a former host and founding chef of The Food Network, will explain the Marin City HEAL Collaborative CAT, its three food system priorities, and how that ties into farmers markets and food banks. Ms. Tanis Crosby will discuss the mission of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank to end hunger with a commitment to equity, collaboration and community. And Sway, founder of Forest & Flour, will share their journey into the allergen-free world and discuss how food nourishes environmental health, playing a vital role in bridging tradition, modernity, resilience and social justice.Organizer: Patty James A Nutrition, Food & Wellness Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 14th annual Lundberg Institute Lecture features Robert Wachter of UCSF and his predictions about what advances artificial intelligence will make, and will not make, in health care.Why has health care not undergone the kind of digital transformation that has completely remade industries ranging from retail to entertainment to travel? Wachter will discuss health care’s bumpy road to digital nirvana, and why, to paraphrase Hemingway, generative AI may lead to medicine’s “gradually, then suddenly” moment.Join us for a preview of the ideas Dr. Wachter discusses in his latest book on AI and health care. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“American values over autocracy. Benevolence over bigotry.”—So begins the rousing finale of the first floor speech delivered by Congressman Hakeem Jeffries upon his historic elevation as House Democratic Leader, affirming the values of our great country one letter of the alphabet at a time.His words provide a reminder of what will keep the United States the greatest democracy in the history of the world. In his new illustrated book for all ages, Jeffries employs clever and memorable turns of phrase to paint an alphabetic road map for a brighter American future and warn of the perils of taking a different path.Jeffries (D-NY) has served as the House minority leader since 2023, when he succeeded San Francisco’s Rep. Nancy Pelosi as leader of House Democrats. He is the first Black party leader in either chamber of the U.S. Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the surface, climate policy couldn’t face a worse future than under a second Trump administration. As a candidate, Trump said on his first day back in office: “I want to drill, drill, drill.” So, what are environmental organizations, including those aligned with the Republican party, doing to keep making progress on addressing climate change? And what do Trump’s cabinet picks say about the incoming administration’s attitude toward energy policy?Guests: Abigail Dillen, President, EarthjusticeHeather Reams, President, Citizens for Responsible Energy SolutionsFor show notes and related links, visit our website.A brief correction was made to this episode on 29 December 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore the intersection of art, artificial intelligence, and new technology. Through the diverse perspectives of three incredible artists, we will delve into unique opportunities that new technology presents for creative expression, activism, and the artists' evolving role in the 21st century. This event will offer exciting opportunities to interact with the artists and a realistic portrait-drawing robot built on 60,000 lines of code. Together, we will gain insight into the future of art and AI by fostering a deeper understanding of how technology is reshaping the art world, culture, and humanity's creative landscape.Learn more: Read this New York Times article "Visions of A.I. Art From OpenAI's First Artist in Residence," including comments from speaker Hugh Leeman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Regardless of who won the presidential election on November 5, one thing remains on the calendar: Former President Donald Trump heads back to court on November 26 for sentencing.Bestselling author and presidential historian Jonathan Alter had a front-row seat to Trump’s felony trial, one of just a handful of journalists allowed in the courtroom. For 23 days, he sat just feet away from Trump, watching the spectacle of the century. In his new book American Reckoning, Alter shares everything he witnessed—from eviscerating takes on the colorful characters to the chilling legal ups and downs—to offer a barbed account of the trial and its aftermath, including fresh reporting about the historic events of the summer of 2024.While experiencing a crisis of faith in the good sense of the American people, Alter chronicles the shaping of his political consciousness and his bracing, unpredictable relationships with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, and Joe Biden, whose decision to stand down in favor of former prosecutor Kamala Harris put the criminal trial front and center as Americans render their own verdict at the polls.Join us for a special online-only program as we hear from someone with a front-row seat to history.This program contains EXPLICIT language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Each generation of classical music lovers may wonder if their generation will be the last to truly enjoy the fusion of beautiful sound and emotional depth expressed by the master composers and performers of this centuries-old artistic tradition. Changing economic and social pressures in the early 21st century dented the interest in classical music in the West, a trend exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. But other forces of change are also at work, including a rapidly increasing interest in Asia following upon the worldwide success, among other performers, of Lang Lang and Yuja Wang (both of whom were discovered and whose early careers were managed for several years by Earl Blackburn).Blackburn will explore what it means to make a career work in today’s classical music industry and will discuss the principles that help thousands of great artists continue to grow both artistically and commercially. Decades ago careers in classical music necessitated getting a powerful agent. Now the tables have flipped somewhat. The creation of classical music has become much more of a collaboration among artist, agent, concert presenter and the audiences who enjoy this art form. Everyone involved is given a chance to test what it means to exercise their imaginations, creating beauty out of sound.Blackburn will be joined in this discussion by one of his artists, the prize-winning violinist Nancy Zhou, who will also perform.Organizer: George Hammond A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices